Knitted fabric



H. H. HOLMES KNITTED FABRIC June 27, 1939.

. 2, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov AAAA Patented June 27, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KN ITTED FABRIC Henry Harold Holmes, Leicester, England, as-

signor to Wildt and Company Limited, Leicester, England, a British company Application November 2, 1937, Serial No. 172,482 In Great Britain November 3, 1936 2 Claims. (Cl. (i6-172) This invention relates to knitted fabrics and Figure 1 shows so much of a knitted article, articles, such, for example, as stockings, halfe. g., a half-hose as is necessary to illustrate the hose, socks and rib tops, and concerns fabrics application thereto of the present invention.

and articles split across the wales, i. e., in a cir- Figure 2 is a view somewhat similar to Figure l cumferential or-coursewise direction in the case showing a modification. 35

\ of a knitted tube to form partially separated Figure 3 purports to represent an enlarged face sections. or front view in diagrammatic form of the por- It is known to provide fabrics or articles of this tion of fabric enclosed by the dot-and-dash lines character wherein the separation of the fabric A in Figure 1, the said portion being shown as sections is due to partial unravelling of a course it appears before partial separation of the arti- "10 or cutting of the wales, but as far as I am aware cle sections has been effected. both of the resultant edges have been overlooked Figure 4 is a similar view of a modied portion or stitched to prevent running of the disconof Figure 3 showing how the article may be made u nected or severed wales and provide a finished with a draw thread so as to facilitate partial sepl'ifi appearance. aration. r`15 The disadvantage with overlooking or stitching Figures 3 and 4 are of course, drawn to a larger is that if it is not done carefully the said edges` scale than Figures 1 and 2 and like parts are desare rendered unsightly and this consequently deignated by similar reference characters throughtracts from the appearance of the finished fabric out the drawings. or article. Referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that the 20 v The present invention has for its object to proarticle is split at I in a circumferential direction duce a fabric or article of the character described to form partially separated sections 2 and 3. The of an improved appearance as regards the finish portion of the article illustrated purports to repof at least one of the aforesaid edges. resent a ribbed top and the separation is effected According to this invention there is provided a so that the section 2, i. e., the garter section, may, '25 knitted fabric or article having partially sepawhen the article is worn, assume an angle with rated sections at least one of which has a no-run respect to the remaining portions of the article, edge or stitch portion which is produced in a nor in other words assume an angle which is ordiished condition. narily assumed by the garter in common use. In

f P By a no-run edge or stitch portion produced in the specific example now being described a ma-"Igo a finished condition I mean a selvedge edge or chine made selvedge or the like, that is to say a portion which is produced by means of the Inano-run edge which is produced in a finished conchine on which the fabric or article is knitted in dition, is provided at the edge 4 which is further contradistinction to an edge or portion overaway from the end 5 of the article at which knitg5 locked or stitched subsequently to the knitting ting is commenced. The edge 6 opposite to the35 of the fabric and partial separation of the secmachine made selvedge or the like is not finished tions, by means of an overlooking or sewing maas produced on the machine but is subsequently chine. overlooked or otherwise stitched when the arti- The present invention is distinguished from the cle is taken off the machine to provide a finished im known fabric in that when separation of the fabappearance and the said machine made nishedric sections is effected one at least of the edges edge 4 is constituted by a part of a welt l which thus produced is in a finished condition and reextends all round the article. The article shown quires no further treatment. in Figure 1 is also formed for a purpose herein- The invention may be carried into practice in after to be explained, with a welt 8 which also T9-145 a knitted fabricor article wherein one or both extends all round the knitted tube above the weltiw'is of the sections formed by the separation have l. As will be appreciated the welting produces at elastic thread incorporated as, for example, in a a a ribbedv or beaded effect across the fabric :garter section of a stocking, half-hose, sock or which is unaffected by the partial separation, like article or a rib top therefore, as well as in a which effect appears to break the continuity of *W fabric wherein the sections are made wholly of the fabric and renders the appearance of the gar-H5() relatively inelastic yarn. When elastic thread is Der SeCtiOn 2 mOlS DI'O'IlOllIlCedprovided in the fabric it may be incorporated in As already alluded to, however, the welting every course or at intervals of one or more may, as shown in the modification illustrated in courses, according to requirements. Figure 2, be limited to the extent of the partial In the accompanying drawings: separation I in which case the remaining 'con- 1.55

tinuous fabric retains its ordinary unbroken characteristic appearance. In Figure 2 the machine made nished edge 4a is constituted by a partial welt 9 extending from one end of the split Ia to the other and the article is formed with another welt I0 of like extent, leaving the front portion b of the ribbed top of the article unbroken in its appearance.

Referring now to Figure 3, it Will be seen that in the article illustrated in Figure 1 the coextensive adjacent welts 'I and 8 are initially joined by a course of loops II which is shown lightly shaded for the sake of clarity. In a portion of this course corresponding in extent to that of the split I to be made subsequently, some of the loops, e. g., alternate loops such as those indicated at I2, are cast off leaving the remainder of the loops such as I3 in said portion to join the fabric sections 2 and 3 until partial separation is to be effected, for example by cutting the joining loops along the line c. It will thus be appreciated that when the loops I3 are cut, the edge 4 of the section 3 presents a perfectly finished appearance by reason of the fact that all of the loops of the welt 'I are locked in the fabric. With regard to the welt 8, however, this does not present a finished appearance for the reason that some of the loops thereof, i. e., the loops I4 through which the cast off loops I'2 are drawn, are not locked in the fabric but are free to run back when the joining loops I3 are cut. The welts shown in Figure 3 are ordinary roll welts produced in the usual way by suspending knitting for the desired number of courses on one series of needles, i. e., the rib needles, so that rib loops such as those indicated at I4 are stretched and joined to the rib loops of a subsequent course. The two adjacent welts may be of any suitable length. The advantage of forming two welts is that when partial separation of the fabric sections is effected, the welt 8 restricts running back of the cast-off Wales and facilitates subsequent finishing of the edge 6 by overlooking or the like after the article has been removed from the machine. If desired, instead of forming a single course of loops II as aforesaid, two or more such courses may be formed for the same purpose between the two welts.

Moreover, instead of providing a partial course including cast off loops such as I2 (Figure 3) a draw thread I5 of a like extent may be inserted temporarily to hold the fabric sections 2a and 3a together as represented in Figure 4. In this instance partial separation of the fabric sections 2a and 3a can be readily eected merely by the removal of the draw thread.

The invention may be applied to flat knitted fabric, but it is principally intended to apply it as just described to circular knitted fabric in which case the partial separation may, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, be effected to the extent of substantially one half or a little more of the circumference of the knitted tube. In the application of the invention t-o an article such as a rib top, stocking, half-hose, sock or the like, to produce a garter top or section such as 2 the partial separation is effected round the back of the knitted tube in the required locality in a walewise direction.

Broadly considered, the method of producing the required effect includes, after the required number of ordinary courses, e. g., rib or plain, a change in the knitting action whereby the machine made selvedge or no-run course or stitch portion is produced, and then continuing to knit in the ordinary manner to complete the production of the fabric or article required. The aforesaid change may be preceded by the knitting of a separating course in which some, e. g., alternate needles of a group of consecutive needles are caused to cast off loops, or by the feeding of a draw thread instead of the main thread to the said group of needles.

A specic method will now be described with reference to the drawings. This method includes, after the formation of a required number of conventional plain or rib courses, such as the 1/1 rib courses indicated at IB in Figure 3, knitting a welt such as 8, then resuming ordinary knitting for a course or courses such as that shown at II but casting off some of the loops I2 of a series corresponding in extent to the extent of the separation required thus leaving joining loops such as I3, or alternatively introducing a draw thread to the same extent as shown in Figure 4, then knitting another welt such as 1, then resuming ordinary knitting for as long as required, subsequently effecting separation of the fabric sections 2 and 3 by cutting the loops I3 at c or pulling out the draw thread, as the case may be, and overlooking the upper of the two edges d and 6 formed by the partial separation thus effected.

When the fabric sections are ribbed they may be of 1/1 or any other desired rib combination. If desired, they may be of a fancy ribbed character. In the event of the fabric sections being plain knitted, they may also be of a patterned or fancy character. Alternatively, the upper or garter portion may, in the case of hosiery, be of a different character of knitting from the remaining or leg portion.

It will be understood that the invention may be applied to rib tops produced singly or in strings for transfer subsequently to the needles of other machines adapted to produce leg and' foot portions of stockings, half-hose, socks and the like, or for attachment to independently knitted leg and foot portions by a linking machine, as well as to stockings, half-hose, socks and like articles produced with tops and legl and foot portions produced in a continuous operation on one and the same machine.

The knitted fabric or articles may be produced on any knitting machine suitably adapted for the purpose and preferably having two sets of needles, but it is mainly intended to employ circular knitting machines, for example, of the cylinder and dial type, or of the double axially opposed needle cylinder type, for example, machines of the characteristic type having superposed needle cylinders and double ended needles operated by means of sliders, as exemplified in prior British Specification No. 15,008 of 1900, and No. 24,290 of 1912, such machines being equipped with means such as welt cams and controlling mechanism therefor, for producing the required selvedge efect on the needles or selected needles, and if desired with means for causing prearranged needles to cast off, or with means for introducing a draw thread, according to requirements.

When elastic thread is to be incorporated in the fabric as, for example, in the production of stockings, half-hose, socks and the like with a garter section or top, the said thread may be incorporated in the form of straight wefts or in the form of loops or stitches, in combination With another inextensible thread. Alternatively, the Whole of the garter section may be formed entirely of elastic thread.

A machine having a single feeder or two or more feeders may be employed, and when elastic thread feeding means are provided the same may be of any conventional form and arranged or/and operated so as to feed the thread to the needles at every course or at intervals of two or more courses during the production of an elastic section. For example, the said means may operate continuously or intermittently in a single feeder machine during the production of an elastic section, and in a two feeder machine may be located at one feeder and operated continuously or intermittently, or may be arrangfed at alternate or other desired feeders in a machine having more than two feeders.

The term fabric hereinafter used in the appended claims is intended to include knitted articles and parts for incorporation into such articles.

What I claim then is:

1. A finished knitted fabric split between its ends in a coursewise direction thereby providing partially separated sections and comprising initially co-extensive adjacent welts, and at least one course of knitting for joining said welts, some of the loops in a portion of said course corresponding in extent to that of the split to be made subsequently being cast off while the remainder of the loops in said portion join the fabric sections until partial separation is to be effected.

2. A nshed knitted fabric which is split between its ends in a coursewise direction thereby providing partially separated sections and comprising initially co-extensive adjacent welts, and a temporarily inserted draw thread of an extent corresponding to that of the split to be made subsequently, said draw thread serving to hold the fabric sections together until partial separation is to be effected.

HENRY HAROLD HOLMES. 

